A New U.s. Missile `Crisis`

March 24, 1985

When it comes to racking up gaffes in diplomacy, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and his assistant, Richard Perle, take the prize.

Mr. Weinberger`s moment came when a Canadian television interviewer asked if a new radar warning system agreed upon between President Reagan and Canada`s Prime Minister Brian Mulroney might lead to the deployment of antimissile launchers in Canada, where the President`s Star Wars program has raised paranoia and protest.

After asserting he had no idea where the defenses would be placed, Mr. Weinberger went on to say some might be installed in Canada, some in the U.S. and some at sea. His answer gave Mr. Mulroney`s political opposition exactly what it was looking for.

American officials rapidly backtracked, contending there was no American plan or decision to ask Canada to establish air-defense missile launchers on its territory, and Canada`s Minister of External Affairs Joe Clark said Canada reserved the right to decide on any actions proposed for its territory and sovereignty.

Richard Perle grabbed the spotlight in London, where he castigated British Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe for daring to question the Star Wars program in a foreign policy speech. Mr. Howe`s speech, said Mr. Perle,

``proved again an old axiom of geometry: that length is no substitute for depth.``

Insults and careless comments aren`t helpful in allied nations where governments are under constant attack from political opponents looking for every excuse to brand them as American stooges. British officials, eager to dispel suggestions of a rift with Washington over the issue, correctly pointed out that there was not even agreement within the Reagan administration about Star Wars.

A nagging question lurks in all the ruckus: Is it necessary to create diplomatic flaps over a concept which exists only as a theory, which a good proportion of the American people disfavors, which the Reagan administration may be prepared to bargain away at Geneva and which probably won`t be ready until the 21st Century?